Animation Director

A Productions are looking for an Animation Director to work on the hit series JoJo & Gran Gran for CBeebies. The show will be produced in-house at our central Bristol studio.

JoJo and Gran Gran follows the life of a four-year old girl called JoJo and her fun and wise grandmother Gran Gran, who looks after her while her parents are working. Mixing beautiful animation with inspiring live action inserts, each episode follows the pair as they fill their day with fun activities and new experiences: from baking St Lucian Banana Bread to searching for Dinosaurs in the local Museum.  

The show celebrates the role of modern Grandparents in many kids lives through core themes of family, community but most importantly, love.

Inspired by the real life relationship between early years educator Laura Henry-Allain and her own grandmother, JoJo and Gran Gran has found a place in the hearts of the CBeebies audience; becoming an overnight classic and the channel’s highest rating Series launch of 2020.

The show is an important milestone in children’s programming as it is the first UK animation that centres around a Black British family. This aspect of the show has resonated positively with the audience and following on from the success of series 1 (over 14 million views on iPlayer alone), we are looking for someone to head up our design department for series 2 and 3.

As Animation Director, you will oversee the animation on all episodes of JoJo & Gran Gran. Working closely with the Series Director and Assistant Director to understand the overall storytelling, style and pace of the show, you will brief the animation teams and review each stage to ensure the final animation is completed to the desired standard. Highly proficient in ToonBoom Harmony, you will have an excellent understanding of the software and be able to troubleshoot where necessary. Working together with production management, you will be responsible for ensuring the animation teams stay on schedule and making sure all client and director notes have been properly implemented. You should be self-motivated and have a proven ability in leading a team in a busy production environment. Excellent communication skills are a must, together with a clear understanding of a 2D animation pipeline.